At TrueSense Marketing, we believe donors who have committed to recurring gifts — sustainers — are truly heroic donors, capable of transformative relationships with their chosen charities. Therefore, we prioritize our fundraising strategy for sustainer donors. And we prioritize that strategy in every channel, including digital. According to the 2017 Blackbaud Luminate Online Benchmark Report, sustainer giving grew 20.4% over the prior year. And when viewing online revenue holistically, sustainer revenue comprises 11% of the total pie.

When it comes to developing and maintaining a healthy sustainer program, telephone must be part of your strategy. There is no replacement for a meaningful, two-way conversation with a donor to understand intent and to explain the importance of becoming a sustainer — all in the pursuit of effectively managing and maintaining sustainer donors.

As Marcy Auman stated in "An Introduction to Sustainer Donors," sustainers are an elite group of donors that cross the threshold of transactional donor to transformational donor through a long-term commitment to support your organization.

All fundraising channels are not created equal when it comes to acquiring sustainer donors.

Sustainer donors are transformational donors who have committed to support your organization using any regular frequency (monthly, quarterly, or annually).

Most nonprofits fish for sustaining donors from the deep pool of their own active transactional donors. These donors know the organization and are more likely to commit to sustaining support than are cold prospects. But acquiring donors from scratch is no easy task.

The right offer to the right donor at the right time. It’s a fundamental fundraising tune.

But when you believe individual donors are different — how can the same fundraising offer be right for them all?

At TrueSense Marketing, we prioritize our fundraising strategy for sustainer donors. We define these transformational donors as those who have committed to support an organization at any frequency and through any method. Many in the industry narrow this important group to monthly donors who automatically give via credit card or EFT.

We know all the benefits sustainer donors provide to a nonprofit. It’s a dreamy list so long we could wrap ourselves up in it and be toasty all winter.

Stories are powerful. However, very few storytellers produce powerful work on their first attempt. Having a sense of your story structure can help you get started. No matter the length of your story or the fundraising channel in which it appears, here are the 6 “A’s” to keep in mind:

For most organizations, however, modeling is part of an evolution, not an immediate destination. And that evolution is heavily predicated on need-state, sophistication, data assets, resources, and ultimately a cost/benefit assessment.

When considering which fundraising channel to use for your donor acquisition initiatives, it is important to think about your short-term and long-term goals.

Some channels, like DRTV and radio, have high donor long-term value, but they may hurt your short-term net income. As you craft your donor acquisition plans, have an idea of your risk tolerance versus the potential fundraising income.

The channel you choose to acquire new donors does impact the net long-term value.

Ask 10 fundraisers what they think the next big trend is and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. But fundraising trends, like all other trends, need diligent monitoring — reviewing return-on-investment, staying relevant in a changing landscape, and making sure the trends you’re following fit your organization.

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At TrueSense Marketing, we believe in fundraising that treats donors like heroes — an unstoppable force for good through their giving. Heroic Fundraising is an online resource tailored to help you reach the most donors and get the most out of your fundraising opportunities. Be sure to subscribe to Heroic Fundraising for all the latest posts, tips, and strategies from our fundraising and marketing experts.